Huge Servings of Stupid Royal Baby Coverage

Last week, news of the anticipation of the royal baby eclipsed much other news in the U.S., but it gave no indication of the level of stupid that was to come with the kid's actual birth.

But in a tough field, where news outlets competed to provide torrents of inane coverage of an event that stopped being front-page news sometime around the enlightenment, CNN appears to have won the sweepstakes.

CNN put itself over the top when its correspondent Victoria Arbiter congratulated mom Kate Middleton, calling her "brilliant"–not for giving birth, but for producing a male heir the first time out. "This is how brilliant a royal Kate is," Arbiter effused. "There are women throughout British royal family history who have panicked over not being able to deliver a boy and here we are. Kate did it–first time." The princess will apparently keep her head.

Amidst CNN's torrential coverage there was also a segment about childbirth in the UK, featuring medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen interviewing a British woman who was actually in labor, as well as a promo for a documentary special, "Will and Kate Plus One."

Elsewhere, MSNBC's Chris Matthews (Hardball, 7/23/13) receives honorable mention for complaining that coverage of New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner's latest online sexual weirdness was blotting out more important stories–including the birth of the queen of England's great-grandchild: "This guy's going to be the big story of the night, not Trayvon Martin, not the princess having a baby, but this stuff!"

Among the saturation coverage of the royal birth, one outlet provided relief: The Guardian's online site features a "Republican" button (as opposed to the default "Royalist" option) which hides all royal baby coverage from the reader.

Senior Media Analyst and Co-producer of CounterSpin Steve Rendall is FAIR's senior analyst. He is co-host of CounterSpin, FAIR's national radio show. His work has received awards from Project Censored, and has won the praise of noted journalists such as Les Payne, Molly Ivins and Garry Wills. He is co-author of The Way Things Aren't: Rush Limbaugh's Reign of Error (The New Press, 1995, New York City). Rendall has appeared on dozens of national television and radio shows, including appearances on CNN, C-SPAN, CNBC, MTV and Fox Morning News. He was the subject of a profile in the New York Times (5/19/96), and has been quoted on issues of media and politics in publications such as the Chicago Tribune, Washington Post and New York Times. Rendall contributed stories to the International Herald Tribune from France, Spain and North Africa; worked as a freelance writer in San Francisco; and worked as an archivist collecting historical material on the Spanish Civil War and the volunteers who fought in it. Rendall studied philosophy and chemistry at San Francisco State University, the College of Notre Dame and UC Berkeley.

Victoria Arbiter's believing that Kate Middleton (the mother) had much to do with the sex of her baby contradicts what I was taught high school biology, namely, that it's (primarily) the presence/absence of the Y chromosome that detemines the sex of the baby, and that (in nearly all cases) only the father carries the Y chromosome.

Roland S. Martin says his new show "NewsOne Now" would have covered the birth of the royal baby — "but the story would be, this is an absolutely stupid amount of attention being paid to a child being born."

It tells a sad tale of moral and intellectual bankruptcy of a nation and the sheer DESPERATION of it's elites to resurrect their image and a moribund social order that will have the half-life of a hydrogen-7 isotope. But never mind, if carrot fails they are quietly strengthening stick behind the scenes. The brain-dead masses want all the best that slavery can offer – and they will probably get it.

Wow, at CNN, a woman taking head just dissed girls. Wow, a boy? Somehow, England has had 2 amazing women as Queens and both Elizabeths too. they don't count?
Should we now conclude that the best English rulers are only women, and OMG, this new baby is named George. OMG again, that George the 3rd, he was decidedly crazy too. And you thought Prince Henry was a handful. Poor kid, he already has some crazy relatives. Well, it should be fun and maybe even do away with the monarchy. : )

I miss Ed Sullivan. His CBS show came on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. There were only 3 or 4 channels to choose, so everybody watched. See, if Ed were still here, Weiner could be his first act. Weiner could flash the whole country at once and get it all out of the system, then and there and once and for all. He'd be happy for life, and the voters could go on to bigger and better things, if they so elected. And Weiner could retire happily, his apparently overwhelming wish realized.

It is obvious to me that no one truly understands the importance of baby George's birth. I paid attention in history and English classes. Where were the rest of you? George is third in line to the throne of the U.K. Prince Charles and Prince William are the only two people between him being a prince or a king. Prince Harry has just been bumped down the line of succession.
The congratulations or rather praise needed to be placed on the mum or Kate choosing to leave the hospital without being bound or hidden. She actually showed what remained of her baby bump, thus giving a realistic ideal for young mums to see.
The further tosh about the first born being male is the stupid part of the article. Queen Elizabeth just had it passed into law that a female could reign as Queen. It did not matter either way whether Kate and Wills had a male or female heir. (What sort of rocks do people live under …making such comments? I don't even have a computer or TV and have kept up better.)
I hope in the future people think before they speak/ write. It is one thing to be thought a fool and another to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.

As an American, I've found the royal baby coverage particularly revolting, disgusting and humiliating. Is this why the Declaration of Indepenence was written and a bloody revolution? So 235+ years later Americans could fawn and drool over the birth of the next British monarch? What a pathetic embarassment.

Yeah that might be one of the dumbest statements Ive heard in some time.But to be honest if it came to an hour of royal baby dramatic breaking news or Obamas economic hour long speech that was dramatic for saying nothing……I pick the kid

Gosh Rebecca, you must have NOT paid attention in history class to make such a silly comment. The royal family is barely the Head of State and lacks any real power. At least in countries with distinctions between Head of State and legislative heads (like Israel, for example), the Heads of States are important. Despite all of the important news, we're continually fed unimportant news like dance competitions or Royal births. Our populace is only educated on the surface level when it comes to current events.

"The congratulations or rather praise needed to be placed on the mum or Kate choosing to leave the hospital without being bound or hidden. She actually showed what remained of her baby bump, thus giving a realistic ideal for young mums to see."

Yes, because if girls never saw 'round the clock coverage of the royal mommy they'd never know what to expect with child birth.

Rebecca…..not to insult these two young people who seem by all accounts to be nice kids but….Didnt we fight a war(and win it)just so we would not have to give a rats ass what little baby will someday get to play king over people who agree to be subjects?

Mirza……Im not sure if Weener can win.Im never sure in the liberal world.What he has done in their world is a resume enhancer.In a sane world he would of left.But he has seen the insanity in the liberal world where hope burns eternal.Look at Clinton.Getting Blow jobs in the oval office from a 19 year old intern as investigations were closing in around him for sexual assault.THEN he lies to Congress ,a judge , and the American people.His wife right there by his side.How is he doing?The most beloved person in the Dem party.Ha ha.Hell his wife who is no truth teller may run for THE job.My guess is Weener will soon be attacked by the left, and his wife fired for(like the mob)making too much of a spectacle of themselves and hurting the lefts greater prize.Hilary and perception of her.It is so scandalous and rotten to the core as to be beyond belief.But on the left it is just another day of eruptions in the culture of corruption.